New to this? Read it in simple words
- AI Mode is a Google Search feature where AI writes the answer.
- Google now shows ads in these answers in 10 more countries.
- The ads are marked “Sponsored”.
- Google needs AI answers to earn money, because its search sales are growing more slowly.
- AI Mode
- A part of Google Search where an AI model writes an answer and you can ask more questions.
- Monetization
- Making money from a product, for example by showing ads.
- Sponsored
- A label that shows a company paid for this to appear.
AI Mode is a part of Google Search where an AI model writes the answer, and users can ask follow-up questions. Google began showing ads there in the US. On October 28, it announced the first countries beyond.
Where the ads go
“Now we’re scaling ads in AI Mode in Australia, Canada, India, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Singapore,” Google wrote. The post came from Shashi Thakur, who leads Google’s search ads.
Google plans to add more places in the last three months of 2026, including Brazil, Mexico and the United Kingdom. It gave no exact dates.
In the US, Google is launching “multiturn ads”, which can appear when a user asks a follow-up question. Ads will be “clearly labeled as Sponsored,” Google says.
From Google’s announcement of October 28. The next three countries are a plan, with no fixed dates.
Why it matters for Google
Alphabet, Google’s parent company, reported its results for July to September on the same day. Revenue from Google Search and other services rose 12% to $63.35 billion. Total revenue grew 25% to $127.6 billion, led by cloud computing.
Search grew more slowly than earlier in the year, TechCrunch notes: 17% in the second quarter and 19% in the first. Chief business officer Philipp Schindler said lower monetization in AI Mode was one reason, according to Search Engine Journal.
He named two other reasons as well, currency changes and trends in some ad categories. He did not say how much less AI Mode earns.
What Google claims
Google says people click on sponsored product listings in AI Mode about as often as on the normal listings. That is the company’s own data, and no outside group has checked it.
Schindler said the move takes Google’s “monetization footprint global for the first time,” TechCrunch reports. In practice, it covers 10 countries for now.
Sources
Every fact in this story comes from the sources below. Open them to check our work.
- 1
- 2Primary source · October 28, 2026Alphabet Announces Third Quarter 2026 Results (Exhibit 99.1) Alphabet, via SEC EDGAR
- 3
- 4Research · October 28, 2026Google Says Lower AI Mode Monetization Weighed On Search Growth Search Engine Journal
- 5
The revenue figures come from Alphabet’s filing. What was said on the earnings call comes from news reports, and the click figure is Google’s own.
Google takes ads in AI Mode to 10 more countries. Silicon AI News, October 29, 2026. https://siliconainews.com/stories/google-ai-mode-ads-10-countries
Google is expanding AI Mode ads to 10 more countries, though lower AI Mode earnings helped slow its search growth to 12%. How we rate the mood
The mood shows how the news frames the event for the tech and AI world: as an opportunity (6 and above) or as a loss (below 5). It is not our verdict on who is right.